Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani says ‘truth isn’t truth’

Former New York mayor says the president’s testimony shouldn’t be rushed because of perjury risk

Rudy Giuliani claims ‘truth isn’t truth’ during interview
(Image credit: 2018 Getty Images)

Donald Trump’s lawyer has claimed that “truth isn’t truth”, during an interview about when the US president would speak with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.

“When you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well, that's so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth. Not the truth,” Giuliani said.

“Truth is truth,” Chuck Todd, anchor of NBC’s Meet the Press replied.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

“No, no, it isn't truth,” Giuliani said. “Truth isn't truth.”

The Guardian says the phrase “might be said to sum up the spirit of the Trump era”, which has featured ongoing claims of “fake news” and Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway’s use of the term “alternative facts”.

The exchange came after Giuliani was asked about whether the Trump team had been stalling over when the US president may give testimony to the Mueller investigation.

“I’m not going to be rushed into having him testify so can he can be trapped into perjury,” Giuliani said.

CNN says that Trump’s legal team is opposed to the idea of Trump testifying before the Mueller probe because they believe “the special counsel's investigators could take what Trump says, if it differs from what others have laid out, as a lie”.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us